The Zoroastrians' Social and Cultural History in Safavid and Qajar Eras on the basis of the Travel books

Abstract

Zoroastrianism is considered as one of the most ancient religions in the world; since, it was the official religion of Iran from the 6th century B. C to the 7th A. D. Consistent with the advent of Islam in Iran, the resistance of a few Zoroastrian followers to join the new religion led to failure due to the various factors; moreover, the Zoroastrian population was gradually reduced to small and scattered minorities. The survivors of Zoroastrians, mostly living in Iran and India at the present time, still believe in the prophet’s instructions.This study, done through the descriptive-analytical method, has presented the socio-cultural history of the Zoroastrians based on the information provided by the writers of travel books in Safavid and Qajar eras and the findings clarifies that the Zoroastrians were always different from the Muslims from Safavid era to the middle of Qajar era they often played a minor role in the society with their difficult life. However, they maintained their adherence to their religion and tradition. From the middle of Qajar era, Zoroastrians' living conditions was improved due to the assistance of Indian Persians, and this issue caused the existing pressures and discriminations to fade over time, and Zoroastrians gradually regained their special cultural and social identity.

Keywords

• zoroastrians
• safavid era
• qajar era
• travel books
• social history